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DETROIT ? Joe Reitz tied his career-high with 25 points as Western Michigan fell just short at Calihan Hall, falling to Detroit, 77-74, in overtime. The Broncos (1-3) came back from an 11-point second half deficit to force the extra stanza.
Western Michigan took an early four-point lead, 70-66, in overtime after Stane's Bufford hit two free throws followed by a steal and fastbreak dunk. Detroit (4-3) tied the game at 70 before Brian Snider and Andrew Hershberger hit buckets to put Western Michigan back up, 74-70, with 1:58 to play.
The Broncos failed to score the remainder of the overtime session, including two missed free throws with :16 to go, as Detroit rattled off seven straight points for the win.
Western Michigan led early, 6-3, after a Hershberger dunk less than three minutes into the game. With the score tied, 8-8, Detroit went on a 26-10 run over the next 9:35 to take a 16-point lead with 5:57 left in the first half.
Still down 16, 36-20, with 5:14 to go WMU went on a 14-2 run spanning the end of the first half and the first minute of the second half to pull within four, 38-34. The Broncos cut the lead to two, 41-39, on their only three-pointer of the night with 15:49 remaining, but the Titans regained control with a 14-5 run that gave them an 11-point cushion, 55-44, with 10:12 to go.
The Broncos climbed back into the ballgame with a 7-0 run over 1:45 to pull back within two, 59-57, with 6:05 to play before the deficit ballooned back to seven, 64-57, with 4:19 on the clock. The Broncos didn't quit as they pulled the Titans' lead back to two, 64-62, after a Reitz three-point play with 2:05 remaining.
Detroit went back on top by four on the next possession, but Western Michigan came back with a layup by Reitz and then Hershberger made two free throws with :33 remaining to tie the game. Brandon Cotton then missed a shot with :06 to go for the Titans to give the Broncos one last shot, but Snider missed a running three-pointer from near the sideline as time expired to force overtime.
Western Michigan hit 46.7 percent of its shots in the game, but knocked down only 1-of-11 from behind the three-point line. The Broncos did most of their damage inside by outscoring the Titans, 40-30, in the paint. WMU also struggled on the boards, getting outrebounded 39-31, including 18 Detroit offensive rebounds that led to 21 second-chance points.
Snider, Hershberger and Bufford all joined Reitz in double figures with 11, 10 and 10 respectively. Dan Hess added a career-high eight points for WMU off the bench.
Cotton led Detroit with 24 points while Jon Goode added 21.
The Broncos return to University Arena next Saturday afternoon to face IUPUI at 2:30 p.m.
